• D-BOX, a set of services, systems and sensors that makes mine clearance operations safer and more efficient has been introduced by Finmeccanica in Naples
• Finmeccanica is responsible for the technological innovation component of the solution that has been developed in the frame of a European Commission project
• The project is an example of military technology applied to the civilian sector for humanitarian purposes

D-BOX (Demining tool-BOX), a research and development effort funded by the European Commission leading to the development of a comprehensive solution for mine clearance operations, was successfully demonstrated today at Finmeccanica’s site in Giugliano (Naples). Finmeccanica, through its Land and Naval Defence Electronics division, lead the project’s technological innovation component and was responsible for the final demo.

The D-BOX solution, an example of military technology applied to the civilian sector for security purposes, integrates information from a range of instruments and sensors, providing safety-critical information to the operator. The main purpose of the system is to minimise risk, while at the same time increasing efficiency and reducing the costs of mine clearance operations. Previously, it would take a professional in the sector about 8 hours of work to clear 5m² of land, with results that were not always reliable and precise. Thanks to D-BOX it is now possible to collect detailed information from a variety of sources, including satellites, drones, thermal video cameras, innovative proximity sensors, antennas and other instruments in the field, and compare it with statistical data to operate more safely in the working area.

Various environmental conditions were recreated during the demo, including desert, wet ground, areas with thick vegetation and areas hit by explosions. By doing so, the demo accurately reproduced the conditions and environments in which today’s mine clearance operations tend to take place, with specific reference to Croatia and Sudan.

Finmeccanica’s Giugliano site employs about 360 people. A majority of these skilled professionals work in micro-electronics for land and naval radar systems.